Conor Makem/Times photo
Trevor Tripp and fellow fifth graders at Henry Wilson Memorial School in Farmington Skyped with WMUR TV recently. The technology allowed the students to stay in school and meet with weatherman Kevin Skarupa from the station’s studios. It was the first time the station Skyped with students.

FARMINGTON — Farmington fifth graders helped to usher in a new era for WMUR Television’s Kevin Skarupa recently. Over 17 years, the weatherman has visited more than 1,000 schools (around 90 a year) to talk to kids and educate them about weather science and all things television.

On Oct. 17, Skarupa held his first official “Skype” chat with Henry Wilson Memorial students. A video conference, the Skyping session saved hours of travel time for Skarupa.

“I was amazed as to how much alike it was from a normal visit once I got used to it,” he said. “In a state like New Hampshire, it is tough to get everywhere, every school year… so this seems like it could be a really good option going forward.”

Fifth grade teacher Jessica Morrell set up the event as part of the science curriculum. Last year, parents asked her if she could get Skarupa to visit the school, but it just didn’t work out. It dawned on Morrell this year that some of the school’s computers have Skyping capabilities and she asked WMUR if it could make a visit a reality. It did.

The whole experience started, not unexpectedly, with a few technical glitches. Between no sound and an upside-down WMUR television studio, it seemed like things might be put off for another date. The troubles, however, were ironed out and the students got their first real interaction with a television personality.

Skylar Cocarus learned that, “You can’t wear the same color suit as the color of the background (when on live tv),” and that, “Earthquakes travel a looong distance.”

Felicity Bacon found out that the “M” in WMUR stands for Murphy, a past New Hampshire governor who founded the station. She also said, “Heat lightning isn’t a real thing, it’s a storm from about 15 to 20 miles away.”

Sticking with lightning, Trevor Tripp added, “Lightening never strikes the same place twice.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s fresh water or salt water, it strikes both. It takes a little more than a second to electrify a lake,” Samantha Aubut added.

Skarupa called the first “official Skype” of his career exciting, but noted he wasn’t able to get to as many questions as he would have in person.

“Once I get used to the technology, it really is a good way to do more. I think the hope is to do them once a month, to be able to get a lot more places,” he said. “They had some great questions at Henry Wilson today. Maybe next year I can get there in person!”

Searching WMUR’s website, www.wmur.com, for “Henry Wilson” will turn up the station’s story on the Skyping session under “video results.”